Do The American People Have Less Control Over Their Government Today Than They Did Under George III?

      The American colonists were committing treason by declaring their independence from the British crown in 1776.  So, they must have been pretty angry and fed up to have gotten to that point.  They were angry about high taxes and regulations imposed on them by King George III and parliament.  They wanted a government where they had a voice, where they had more control over the things that affected their lives.  They were so determined to have this that they were willing to fight and die if necessary to get it.  Those American colonists took on the largest and most powerful military force in the world and against all odds they won.

     More than two hundred years later many Americans find themselves as frustrated as those colonists did.  We have the style of government that the colonists put in place, a free republic where the people elect their representatives.  But it doesn't seem to be working so well anymore.  The American people are bogged down by the same high taxes and regulations that the colonists were fighting against.  Sone would argue that it's even worse today when you consider high inflation, reports of the government spying on its own people, and government secrets being kept from the public.  If our representative style of government actually worked then the people would have the ability to change all of these things, but we don't.

     The American people have been spinning in a rut for decades worth of election cycles while the government bureaucracy piles up high around us.  The same politicians have been representing us for years.  The U.S. Capitol building has become the largest retirement home in the world.  Many have served numerous terms in office well into old age.  They and their wealthy back rollers act like being in Congress or the Senate is a lifetime position.   Sure, we all have the right to vote for someone else.  The trouble is, even when a better candidate comes along, they don't stand a chance.  The establishment and the media who serves them will do anything to prop up the old politicians.  They have to protect their investment.  These old politicians have been bought and paid for already.  So, I think term limits are desperately needed.  But it will take much more than term limits to fix the problems.

     The size of our government has grown out of control.  This makes it difficult for the American people to even know what our government is up to.  We hear about things from time to time that makes us feel uneasy.  Like just a few days ago we heard about the government collecting financial information on people it perceives to be a part of the so called MAGA movement.  But it's all the things we don't hear about that should disturb us even more.  All of the things that they hide from us on the grounds of national security should concern us all.  For example, why do we still not have access to all of the files on the JFK assassination?  That crime happened more than sixty years ago, and the government is still redacting documents and withholding others all on the grounds of national security.  So, I think we must shrink the size of our government in order to regain control of it.

     I sometimes wonder what those colonists in 1776 would think about us today.  They might be impressed by the sheer size and complexity of our country today, but I think they would be disappointed in what our government has become.  It is a government that merely wears the disguise of democracy rather than actually functioning as one.  So, think about the spirit of 1776 as America heads into yet another election year.  Can the American people regain control of their government, or does King George III get the last laugh echoing through history?